In the Presence of Shadows
by Zemnian
Summary: "You've surprised me yet again trainer, in order to prove our worth to Reshiram, we had to defeat him in battle. I expected Zekrom to ask the same of you, but it appears that the Dragon of Ideals has already chosen to walk with you."
1. Chapter 1

**Had a brief fit of inspiration from listening to N's final battle theme, and I wanted to write this. Hopefully there'll be a real story soon from me.**

The trainer walked through the luxurious entrance to the throne room of the castle, stopping on a large rectangular platform in the middle of the room. The King of said castle, N, watched him intently.

N examined the trainer's face, noting that it was the same emotionless, steeled look the trainer always wore. What was it that this trainer's Pokémon saw in him to revere him so much? Why, of all the Pokémon he had come across, had the ones this trainer befriended spoken only of the love and care this trainer held for all of them? What had this trainer done to make these Pokémon value him so much? N knew he would find out soon enough.

"What I want is a world where Pokémon are free of humans." Said N as he stood up from his throne and started down the path leading to the platform the trainer stood on.

"By separating Pokémon and people, they will regain their natural power." N continued.

"This will be our last battle. I am prepared! Even if my friends get injured, the truth I stand for will prevail!" N traveled to the end of the pathway, stopping right before where the path ended, and the platform began.

"Since you have made it this far, surely you feel something similar?"

The trainer only made a slight movement with his head to show he had heard N at all. The king of Team Plasma took the final step onto the platform where there final battle was to unfold, then he turned to face the wall to his right, staring at it in deep thought.

"You came all this way with the intention of battling me. Yet Zekrom hasn't reacted with you... How disappointing."

It was true, N had hoped that this trainer was the one that would oppose him, hanging everything they believed against everything he believed, a clash of ideals and truth. But those had just been hopes after all, and in the end, the truth always prevailed.

"I'd taken quite a liking to you too, never in any of the battles I'd had did Pokémon communicate with their trainer quite like you, and I truly believed you to be the one." N turned to face the trainer and shook his head with a look of disapproval on his face. If this phased the trainer at all, it didn't show.

"But it seems that was nothing more than a baseless assumption." The King of Team Plasma took a single step towards the trainer.

"No matter how much man fights alongside Pokémon, they can never build a real understanding with their so called partners."

N abruptly took a step back from the trainer.

"You have two options, Fight a hopeless battle, or leave and let Pokémon be free from humans once more!"

The trainer only narrowed his gaze at N. In return, N let out a small sigh.

"So be it."

N's hand quickly shot into the air above his head.

"Come, Reshiram!" With that command, a roar that sounded like the keys of a piano, rang throughout the large throne room.

The wall behind N's throne shattered as the Dragon of truth, Reshiram, burst through at a blinding speed, before quickly stopping and landing on the platform, situating itself in front of N.

Reshiram's tail glowed a bright orange, before a cyclone of fire formed around Reshiram. The heat was intense, yet the trainer made no move to shield himself from the heat. As quickly as it had begun the fire receded back into Reshiram, the dragon slowly brought up its head to stare directly into the trainer's eyes, analyzing his soon-to-be opponent. Surprisingly to the dragon, the trainer's eyes betrayed no fear, only determination. He knew something was awry with this human, though he wasn't sure what. It didn't matter, his brother didn't deem this trainer worthy as a hero, so what hope could this human have to defeat hi-…?!

A loud rumbling sound cut off Reshiram's train of thought, N rushing in front of the dragon to find the source. The rumbling sounded off again, and was coming straight from the trainer's bag.

"Your Dark Stone! Zekrom is…" N trailed as the reality of the situation dawned on him.

The trainer backed away slightly, any emotions he was feeling still undiscernible to the other two in the room.

The Dark Stone floated up from the trainer's bag, radiating darkness, and glowing in a dark purple aura. A flash of light struck, and the stone began absorbing dark energy from its surroundings, before the energy was quickly consumed in its entirety by the stone.

And then the energy released itself all at once instantly. It formed a sphere that took up almost all the space of the platform on which the three stood, and from the center of the sphere, something started to grow larger. A creature curled into a ball, slowly getting larger, until it reached a size comparable to Reshiram.

Zekrom had finally emerged from the dark stone, and it made its presence known. As soon as the Dragon of Ideals opened its eyes, it uncurled itself and its tail grew a bright blue. It violently unleashed a storm of lightning, not unlike Reshiram's earlier display of power. The showers of sparks died down and returned into Zekrom's body, who stared at the trainer for a moment.

Zekrom lowered his head, and the trainer placed a hand on top of it, whispering something to the dragon that N, nor Reshiram could here. Zekrom's face had a look of surprise at what the human had told him, but it didn't last long. The beast nodded and turned around, letting the trainer move in front of him.

"Reshiram and Zekrom, originally one Pokémon, one being…" N whispered.

"Distinctly opposite, yet exactly the same entity." N continued, louder this time.

"Long ago, Reshiram and Zekrom appeared before the ones they recognized as heroes, people they saw as worthy of furthering their ideologies of truth and ideals respectively."

"I see, the same is true of how they have appeared before us now."

"Do you hear the Pokémon speaking?" N asked, not expecting answer.

To his surprise the human nodded, but gave no elaboration.

"Then you would know that it wants to be your ally, you've surprised me yet again trainer, in order to prove my worth to Reshiram, I had to battle him. I expected Zekrom to ask the same of you, but it appears that the Dragon of Ideals has already chosen to walk with you…" N trailed off.

"You're Pokémon are wounded from your battles with the Elite Four, victory against such an opponent would mean nothing."

The trainer and Zekrom watched as N walked over and healed the trainer's Pokémon before heading back to where he was once standing in front of Reshiram.

"I have seen the future!" N shouted.

"I will win, for the truth, and for a better world!" N declared with surety.

N reached for a Poke ball, and threw it onto the battlefield, releasing his Carracosta. The trainer did the same and out of his Poke ball came a Sceptile that ominously stared at the floor before slowly raising his head to eye level.

"Use stone edge!" N shouted at Carracosta, who nodded in affirmation.

A ring of glowing rocks appeared around Carracosta, and with a swing of his arms the rocks were sent hurtling at the Sceptile, who effortlessly moved out of the way of the Stone Edge.

Sceptile flicked his wrists, sharpening the leaves on his arms until they glowed a luminescent green. The grass Pokémon lunged at Carracosta with tremendous speed, catching the water type off guard, and landing a Leaf Blade attack to the Carracosta's midsection. Without any command, Sceptile followed through with another powerful leaf blade to his opponent's torso, knocking the Carracosta unconscious.

N was astounded, this was just as he had expected! A heated battle in which his opponent wouldn't utter a single command to this Pokémon. He didn't know if the trainer simply let the Pokémon fight on their own or if he had some psychic abilities to communicate with his Pokémon, but it didn't matter how he did it, he had come too far to fail his friends here!

N sent out his next Pokémon, a Vanilluxe, who upon being released immediately unleashed a blizzard, sending Sceptile flying back, frosted over and knocked out.

The trainer called Sceptile back into his Poke ball. He reached into his pouch and pulled out another Pokémon, then threw it out onto the battlefield. From the light of the Poke ball, a Toxicroak emerged, a croaking sound rumbling from its gullet.

"Vanilluxe, use flash cannon!"

Silver and white energy began forming around the Vanilluxe's face, before it immediately shot out as a beam, heading straight for Toxicroak, who jumped out of the way in the nick of time. The Toxicroak brought his hands close together where a yellow ball of light began to form between his palms. With a screech, Toxicroak launched a crackling focus blast at Vanilluxe, who was too slow to move from the focus blast's path. A large cloud of smoke rose up when the ball of energy made contact, and from out of the smoke flew Vanilluxe, face scrunched in pain. The snowstorm Pokémon struggled to get up, and appeared as if it might be able to continue battling for a moment, but N wasn't having none of that.

"Please, Vanilluxe, you've done all you can, let yourself rest." N recalled the Vanilluxe back to its Poke ball, he hated to see his friends in pain, but it needed to be done, so that no Pokémon would ever have to suffer because of mankind again.

N reached for another Poke ball, and sent out his Archeops. Toxicroak shot a vacuum wave at the Archeops, which was easily dodged.

"Acrobatics!" N shouted.

The Archeops moved so quickly it was as if he had vanished. All the Toxicroak registered was a stinging pain all over his body, and then he was slammed into the ground with enough force to create a small crater, roughly in the shape of the Toxicroak.

Archeops leapt off of the Toxicroak, who let out a pained groan from being used as a springboard. The trainer wasted no time in recalling back his Toxicroak. He paused to look at the Poke ball in his hand, and gave it a small nod and a blink, before stashing it back in his bag. He withdrew a cherish ball from his bag, the red surface glinting in the light, then tossed it out onto the battlefield. From the Poke ball's emergence light, a Greninja took form. It got into a battle ready stance and made no sound as it turned to face the Archeops.

 _"A Greninja?"_ It was the first one N had seen, and the first of the Froakie line he had seen this trainer use, how he had befriended one in the short time since their last meeting was a mystery to N.

"Archeops, Dragon Claw!" N commanded.

Archeops' right wing began to glow in a dark blue flame, and he lunged at the Greninja with frightening speed. The dragon claw landed on its mark, and the Greninja was sent rag dolling back, but the ninja was dead silent, as if the hit hadn't even registered. As soon as the Greninja hit the ground it disappeared in a puff of smoke, replaced by a substitute doll.

The Archeops and N both looked around frantically, trying to find where the Greninja had vanished too, but by the time Archeops had spotted him, a hydro pump was already well on its way towards him. Caught unaware, the Archeops took a direct hit and was sent flying towards N's feet, barely conscious from the attack.

N, quickly kneeled down to Archeops, concern written all over his face. He gently laid a hand on Archeops' head.

"You did well, take a long deserved rest my friend." N said as he returned Archeops to his Poke ball.

N stood back up, and looked back at Reshiram.

He gave the dragon a look that conveyed N's thoughts _"Soon."_ Reshiram gave a subtle nod in response.

N pulled out another Poke ball, and threw it onto the battlefield, a Klinklang emerged from the Poke ball, its gears rattling as they grinded against each other.

"Use Thunderbolt, and don't rest until he's down!"

The Klinklang let out a grinding noise as electricity sparked from its body. Greninja was quick to dodge the arcs of electricity that came racing at him, though several sparks managed to graze the ninja. Greninja darted towards the Klinklang, his arm covered in a dark wispy aura, attempting to land a night slash on the gear like Pokémon. As Greninja was about to close in, Klinklang swiftly floated back, dodging the night slash.

The Greninja looked up from the ground, only to be met with another thunderbolt that hit its mark dead on. Greninja writhed in pain from the sheer power of the electricity, but despite the type disadvantage, stood his ground. The ninja mustered up what was left of his strength and shot a powerful hydro pump straight threw the thunderbolt, the arcs of lightning coiling around the hydro pump like a snake.

The torrent of water made direct contact with Klinklang, immediately stopping the flow of electricity from its body. The gear Pokémon was sent flying backwards, landing on the ground and sliding a few more feet before he came to halt, the painful sound of metal on metal could be heard as the Klinklang struggled to stay conscious.

On the other end of the battlefield, the Greninja was on his knees, completely out of energy. The Ninja Pokémon looked back at his trainer who nodded and recalled the tired Greninja back to his Poke ball.

N kneeled down to his Klinklang and whispered his thanks to him before returning the Pokémon to its Poke ball.

 _"This is the last one, the end to the prelude of the true battle."_ N thought to himself. He pulled out one last Poke ball.

"This is my oldest friend, the one who has been with me every step of the way, lets end it like this, before the real final battle begins, let our oldest companions carry our spirits through them in battle!" N exclaimed passionately.

A small smile crept its way onto the trainers face, and then he gave a nod to N. The trainer reached into his bag and pulled out a Poke ball, activating the device that scaled the Poke ball back to normal size. N had never seen who this trainer's true partner was, and the trainer had never seen his, this would be a first time experience for both of them.

"On the count of three?" Asked N. The trainer gave a small nod in affirmation.

"One…two…three!"

The two trainers through their Poke balls out onto the field simultaneously, a bright white light emerging from the Poke balls as they opened.

From N's Poke ball, an Illusion Master appeared, a Zoroark.

And from the trainer's Poke Ball, appeared a Wielder of Aura, a Lucario.

N's vision narrowed in focus, staring into the eyes of his opponent.

"Zoroark, it's up to you now! Keep your distance and use flamethrower!"

A ball of intense heat began forming at Zoroark's mouth, and then the heat shot forward in the form of scorching flames, barreling towards its target. The Lucario was swift to dodge, forming a staff made of bones in its hand, then breaking the staff into two pieces to use as clubs.

The Lucario swiped with it left club at the Zoroark, who shifted his body out of the way, only barely dodging the Lucario's follow-up swing. Zoroark's arms became enveloped in the dark aura of a Night Slash, ready to take hits with them if need be. The two Pokémon traded blows, Zoroark parrying swings with his arms, occasionally getting grazed, and Lucario staying on a relentless offensive, intent on keeping his opponent on the defense until the Zoroark's endurance wore thin.

Lucario swung with his right club at Zoroark's head, keeping the non-attacking arm near his face at all times. Zoroark ducked below the swing and took a swipe at Lucario's legs, making him fumble with his footing. Zoroark pressed the newly made opening, delivering a fierce uppercut to the aura wielder's chin.

The Lucario stumbled backwards from the pain, but recovered quickly. His bone clubs had dissolved from his loss of concentration, so he dashed at his opponent while readying a punch aimed for the spot where the Zoroark's shoulder connected to his body.

The blow landed on its intended mark, leaving the Zoroark's arm aching, and its movements far more sluggish. Lucario shot another fist at the same spot on the Zoroark's opposite arm, hampering his opponent's arm movement significantly.

The Zoroark looked at Lucario with a rage filled face. Biting through the pain, he unleashed a close range flamethrower at the fighting-type. With no room to dodge, Lucario was sent clambering back from the blistering heat. Desperately he dived to the right in order to escape the chamber of fire.

Lucario got to his feet with much strain, but locked determined eyes with Zoroark, whose irises held an equal amount of passion. Lucario brought his hands together, a small blue ball of energy forming between them. The ball grew in size until the light around it receded back into it, leaving only an Aura Sphere.

The Lucario wasted no time in launching the projectile at Zoroark, who was far too burnt out too try dodging the unavoidable attack.

The Illusion Master closed his eyes, and accepted his defeat as he was struck, sent flying back to his oldest friend's feet.

N kneeled down to his friend and pulled him into a hug, which the Zoroark pulled through his exhaustion to return.

"Thank you." N whispered to his companion.

"You've done all you can, let us handle the rest."

N pulled out Zoroark's Poke ball and returned him to it so that his friend would be able to relax, knowing that he hadn't suffered in vain.

Lucario watched the two's interaction, before walking back to his own trainer. The Aura Pokémon nodded at his trainer before moving to stand by his side.

N looked at his counterpart with a look of finality.

"This is it! The time has come to determine who's beliefs are stronger, the truth I hold to my heart, or the ideals you hold to yours?!" N shouted with a fiery passion, one burning so brightly it rivaled the Dragon of Truth's flames.

"Reshiram, you know what to do!"

Reshiram slowly levitated from its spot behind N, and onto the battlefield, all that remained was for his brother to take his place, and then the final battle begin…but instead of what Reshiram was expecting, the most peculiar thing happened.

The trainer looked back at Zekrom and placed a hand on the dragon's head, before shaking his own head, as if telling him to stand down. The trainer took off his coat and laid it on the floor, where his Lucario picked it up and stepped back to stand next to Zekrom.

Then the trainer walked onto the battlefield.

N's breath staggered, his eyes widened when he realized what the trainer was planning. Reshiram only watched as the human the human approached. How could this human hope to challenge him without the Zekrom? Unless-…

The air around the human began to ripple and distort, the features of a human melting away. His body began to change, the trainer's entire body turned pitch black, while his hair became white and began to wave around like a plume of smoke. The trainer's eyes became a piercing blue that seemed as if they could bore a hole through someone. The trainer's legs completely disappeared leaving only a floating specter of what used to be.

Where the trainer once stood, levitated the Lord of Nightmares, Darkrai.

N's mouth hung open in shock, before curling into a smile. Then he broke the silence.

"I see," N said

"You didn't have any plans to become recognized as a hero by Zekrom, you had every intention of finishing this yourself." N said, waiting for the Darkrai to confirm with his body language.

"Yes." One word. The only word he had ever heard his opposite speak.

"I must know, Darkrai." Started N. "Why do you fight to keep people and Pokémon together, you should know that humans only hold Pokémon back!" N said.

There was a long pause of silence, N was about to give up on an receiving answer when Darkrai uttered another one word answer.

"Companionship." The Darkrai said plainly.

N didn't expect any elaboration and didn't get any. The King of Team Plasma closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath.

"Then let's finish this, once and for all! Are you ready Reshiram?" The Dragon of Truth nodded back at its companion.

"Good, you know what to do!" N said, letting the dragon take charge.

Reshiram's tail illuminated a blazing orange, a ball of the same color began to gather above Reshiram, slowly growing in size and luminance.

With a screech and a face of concentration, the ball of flaming light sped towards Darkrai at a breakneck speed. The Lord of Nightmares glared at the sphere of fire, disappearing into the ground at the last possible second, the Fusion Flare attack flying to back wall of the throne room.

Darkrai reappeared behind Reshiram, jetting out of the ground and coming to a sudden halt above the dragon's head. The nightmare held his arms in a charging position, forming a sphere devoid of any color at its center, with crackling purple electricity at its edges.

Zekrom watched in silence as the Darkrai fought what was supposed to have been his battle, he would know that attack anywhere, Dark Void. It seemed to the Dragon of Ideals that Reshiram had recognized the attack as well, the dragon's eyes had widened upon the realization, and he hastily used his tail to jettison out of the range of the attack.

The Darkrai floated towards the ground, sprouting leg like appendages, lightly landing on the marble floor. The dream eater held the same look of dis-attachment and sternness that he had as a trainer, but now accompanied by a set of searing blue eyes.

The Dream Eater prolonged his gaze for a second longer, before dashing forward in a burst of speed with a focus punch attack. Reshiram put up a reflect shield, blocking the punch, and retaliated with a dragon tail, swiping Darkrai to the side. The Dream Eater righted himself in midair, sending a Blizzard attack towards Reshiram.

Reshiram braced himself for the onslaught of snow, shivering as the particles gave him small cuts wherever they made contact. The Dragon's tail burst into flames once more, lighting up his surroundings in flame, melting away the blizzard.

An icy aura radiated from Darkrai's body, until the entire room became covered in a thick, icy fog, the dream eater fading into the clouds of ice.

Reshiram's head darted around, trying to find the Darkrai. His eyes focused on a glowing purple outline in the distance, not recognizing the Dark Void until he was already fast asleep.

Darkrai dashed towards the fallen form of Reshiram and his Bad Dreams went into effect immediately, feeding off of the Dragon's nightmares.

The shade placed a wisp-like hand on the Dragon's head, Reshiram's face contorted in pain, the Dream Eater feeding off of his nightmares.

The energy flowed from Reshiram to Darkrai until the Dragon of Truth's head fell limp on to the ground, breathing heavily in his exhaustion.

N looked on in utter shock. They had lost.

How could this be? Had he been wrong about everything this entire time? No, N wouldn't accept that, mankind only served to hurt Pokémon, the one trainer who opposed him and was as close to Pokémon as himself was no trainer at all, but a Pokémon! The Dragon of Truth had chosen _him_ to be its hero, so how could he be wrong?

Even so he had still lost at the hands of his counterpart, so what about everything else mattered? Even if he was right, the traine-, no the Darkrai's ideals had been stronger than his truth.

The Darkrai floated closer to N, stopping when he was only a few feet in front of him, observing him in silence.

N withered under the Darkrai's gaze, opting to stare at the ground instead of the nightmare before him, and let out a defeated sigh.

"So I guess that's it then, your ideals were strong enough that you didn't even need the help of Zekrom, or was my truth just so flimsy…"

N felt something gently rest on his shoulder, he looked up to find that the Darkrai's pitch black hand was the culprit. There was something in the Dream Eater's face that N hadn't seen on him before, a small smile, a compassionate smile, had crept onto the Darkrai's face, his eyes quirked in the same emotion.

"In my long existence I've found that the answer to complex questions lies somewhere in the middle of two extremes." The Darkrai said almost inaudibly.

"You fought for everything you believed to be true, the very personification of truth recognized this, and chose you as its partner." He said, at a speaking level this time.

The Darkrai placed its resting hand on N's other shoulder and looked him in the eyes, the Darkrai's compassionate expression now fully visible to N.

"Have more faith in yourself." He whispered to N.

N, looked back down at the floor, before pulling the Dream Eater into a quick embrace.

"Thank you, I needed that." He said, releasing the embrace as quickly as he had initiated it.

"It's not a problem." The Darkrai said, quickly returning to the emotionless slate N was used too.

N looked past Darkrai at Reshiram, who had since gotten back to his feet and watched the interaction with his brother and the Lucario.

Behind the three Pokémon, at the entrance of the throne room, stood a robed figure, his father Ghetsis, shock written all over his face.

"A Darkrai?" Ghetsis said in confusion as he marched into the chamber. Ghetsis surveyed the room, noting the complete absence of the trainer. "Where is he?" Ghetsis asked, making eye contact with N. "Where is the trainer!?" Ghetsis said again, growing angry when he didn't receive an answer the second time.

The Darkrai levitated forward towards Ghetsis, unnerving him. The air around the Dream Eater began to ripple and contort, until the Darkrai took the shape of a human, the same one as the trainer… Ghetsis' eyes widened as realization dawned upon him.

"This entire time, you were just another one of those mindless beasts, a Pokémon?"

N flinched at his adoptive father's words. Referring to Pokémon as mindless beasts? He had never heard Ghetsis speak about Pokémon so cruelly.

"I assure you, we are far from mindless." Darkrai said, his illusion of human skin fading, returning to his wispy, shadow-like form.

Darkrai floated closer to Ghetsis, until he was within arm's reach of the Sage. Ghetsis' eyes narrowed at the Darkrai in contempt.

"I have ended this game of yours sage."

The look of contempt on Ghetsis' face shifted into one of pure rage, and he promptly moved his line of sight to N.

"You failed?!" Ghetsis screamed.

"After everything I gave you, you failed me? No **_you_** _,_ N, are a failure! A failure and a disappointment! Nothing more than a freak without a human heart, choosing these dull creatures as friends, just as I guided you to!"

N stepped back, fear and shock evident on his face.

"You were nothing more than a tool! A piece of clay molded into the hero that Reshiram would surely choose! And it worked, just like I had planned, everything was set in motion, all you had to do was end this pitiful beast," He said, roughly pointing at Darkrai. "That held the façade of a trainer!"

"But no, you failed at the most pivotal moment against this shadowy excuse of a deity, just like every other time you faced him!"

The anger radiating off of Ghetsis only grew as he turned back to face the Darkrai.

"You think that you can stop me! You think that after beating N you'll be able to stand up to the likes of me! I will be the only person in this region with control of Pokémon, and I will cease control of the rest Unova with that power!" Ghetsis proclaimed angrily.

"Human or not, you are powerless to do anything! I won't **_let_** you do anything, I won't let my decades of work be undone by the likes of you!" Ghetsis snarled in rage, reaching into his cloak to pull out a Poke ball.

 **So that's the end of this little one shot thing. It's nothing spectacular but I thought it was a fun idea so I went with it. I know it ended on a cliffhanger but it seemed like the best way to end this one shot was to leave it open ended. Though if anybody has any interest in a sequel with the battle against Ghetsis and with the rest of the ending then I'll probably end up making another fic to complete this one. In other news, I'm working on an actual series fic with multiple chapters and stuff, first one in long time really (yay). It's a PMD 2 Fic about Dialga discovering and witnessing the slow collapse of Temporal Tower, powerless to do anything about it, and his gradual descent into madness from watching the thing he's most deeply connected with fall apart. If anybody has any ideas for it, or can just help me in general with formatting it let me know in a review, a private message, or something else. Anyways this is a fairly long author's note so I'm gonna stop soon. Be sure to review and leave any criticism to help me improve. Criticism on how I wrote certain types of scenes like the action and dialogue especially would be really helpful. Thanks for reading! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Finally writing the second chapter to this monstrosity, sorry it took so long, been doing a lot of stuff for school, excuses and stuff. As always, criticism is welcome.

. . . . . . . . .

Ghetsis reached into his cloak, pulling out a Poke ball with rage-filled eyes.

"Everything I have worked for has built up to now! I'll be dead before I let you stop me!" Ghetsis threw the Poke ball onto the damaged battlefield, a Cofagrigus emerging from the ball. The Cofagrigus looked back at its master with a hiss, making its displeasure clear.

"You will do as I say, or I will return you back to your prison!" Ghetsis said, rage barely contained. The Cofagrigus turned back around with a scowl on its face.

"Use Toxic!" Ghetsis commanded. A stream of purple sludge spewed from Cofagrigus' mouth towards Darkrai, but was quickly intercepted by Lucario, flowing over the jackal harmlessly.

Darkrai gave a nod of thanks to Lucario which was quickly returned with a grunt, then floated off to spectate next to Zekrom.

"You won't even face me yourself? With all the power of Legendary Pokémon you still let your underlings handle your dirty work?" Ghetsis chuckled softly. "Then were not so different you and I. You claim to want to keep humans and Pokémon together on the basis of companionship, but you're like me, and you recognize when somebody is beneath you." Ghetsis scoffed. "The difference is you're in denial about it."

"You sure jump to conclusions quickly." Darkrai said, sounding almost amused. "We were like N, we despised humans for how we thought they treated Pokémon, but then we went out into the world, and by watching others, we understood," Darkrai glared at Ghetsis. "The bonds we and humans have are ones based upon trust, and a desire to form a connection with each other, not ones of a slave and a master."

"Yet there are still trainers who would exploit a Pokémon's trust, using them as a means to an end." Ghetsis said with a smirk.

"Like you?"

Ghetsis' smirk grew into a grin and he narrowed his gaze at Darkrai. "Precisely!" Ghetsis shot his arm out in a reaching motion. "Cofagrigus, use Shadow Ball!" He commanded.

A wispy ball of shadowy aura formed in front of Cofagrigus' head, and he shot the Shadow Ball at Lucario, who took the attack head on with a grunt. Lucario quickly brought his hands together, forming a cluster of black rings in between his paws, and then releasing the dark pulse at Cofagrigus.

Cofagrigus narrowly dodged the attack, the rings grazing the side of his head. The coffin's face twisted further in rage, releasing another, larger Shadow Ball at Lucario without waiting for an order from his master. Lucario managed to dodge this time, immediately dashing at the Cofagrigus, before leaping into the air while his foot ignited in flames. Lucario twisted in midair, delivering a devastating blaze kick with the back of his foot to Cofagrigus.

The coffin was sent flying backwards, engulfed in scorching flames and creating a small crater upon his landing. The Cofagrigus struggled to get up, Ghetsis giving him a tense stare. "Get up." Cofagrigus struggled to right himself, but fell back to the ground, too exhausted to continue, "I said, Get. Up." Cofagrigus didn't move, and Ghetsis returned the coffin to his Poke ball silently.

Lucario was exhausted, he had overexerted himself. Taking a flamethrower to the face was…less than enjoyable to say the least, and then battling Cofagrigus after had put him past the edge of exhaustion. The jackal walked back to Darkrai's side to spectate the rest of the battle.

N noticed, finally shaken out of his stupor, and walked over to Lucario.

"Here," N said, handing Lucario a Full Restore. He turned to Darkrai. "You'll need these if you don't plan on battling yourself." N said as he handed several healing items to the dream eater. Darkrai nodded his thanks, calling out his wounded Pokémon, and healing them back to their uninjured states.

Ghetsis clenched another Poke ball in his hand, throwing it onto the field. From the bright emergence light of the Poke ball, a Bisharp was released. "Do not fail me." Ghetsis commanded coldly.

Bisharp looked back impassively at Ghetsis, then turning his head back around, focusing his attention on his opponent once more. Darkrai motioned with his head for somebody to take charge on the field, Sceptile being the one to heed the call.

Sceptile quickly brought his hands together, forming a green sphere of energy in between his talons, then quickly shooting the Energy Ball at Bisharp.

"Use Metal Burst!" Ghetsis swiftly ordered. A greyish silver screen of light appeared in front of Bisharp. The Energy Ball was absorbed into the screen, causing it to grow a more brilliant silver. Bisharp punched the wall of light, sending the glowing shards of light flying at Sceptile. The lizard managed to narrowly dodge the fragments of light, but one nipped his shoulder, causing him to stagger back in pain.

Sceptile narrowed a glare at Bisharp, and buried his clawed hands in the ground. Sceptile let out a primal roar, before the ground shook violently due to the grass-type's Earthquake attack. Bisharp let out a screech that sounded like metal grinding on metal, collapsing to the ground in pain from the super-effective move

Bisharp struggled to his feet, just barely managing to stand. Sceptile was worn out as well, panting from the effort the Earthquake took.

"Use X-Scissor!" Ghetsis commanded. Bisharp brought his arms together in an X pattern. The blades on his arms began to glow a brilliant, greenish-white light, and Bisharp thrust his arms out, sending the glowing X hurtling at Sceptile, who was far too exhausted to dodge.

The attack sent Sceptile airborne before he landed roughly, bouncing upon his contact with the ground until he skidded to a halt. Darkrai hastily floated over to the Sceptile, sprouting his legs so he could kneel down to Sceptile. The lizard opened his eyes to see Darkrai kneeling next to him, worry evident on the dark-type's face.

Sceptile braced his arms in an attempt to stand, but Darkrai quickly tried to stop him. "Don't get up, you've done all you can." Darkrai said in a soft tone. Sceptile shook his head, and attempted to stand again. _"I'll be damned before I lose to this pawn!"_ Said Sceptile in his native tongue. Darkrai slowly nodded in understanding, floating back off to where he and Lucario had been watching the battle unfold.

"Again!" Shouted Ghetsis. Bisharp brought his arms together in a cross formation again, shooting it at Sceptile, who made no move to dodge. Instead, he held his arms in front of him as if he was getting ready to catch the attack… which he did. Sceptile crushed the X-shaped energy and reformed it into a sphere, hurling the ball at Bisharp at blinding speeds.

With no time to dodge, Bisharp tanked the attack, causing a large cloud of smoke to billow up. When the smoke cleared, Bisharp was still standing, but appeared unresponsive. After a few long seconds, Bisharp began to shake, and promptly fell over, completely unconscious.

Ghetsis growled in frustration as he returned Bisharp to his Poke ball. Ghetsis reached into cloak again, pulling out a minimized Poke ball. Ghetsis enlarged the Poke ball and threw it out on to the field, a Bouffalant emerging from the ball.

"Use Poison Jab!" Ghetsis yelled vehemently. Bouffalant complied quickly, his left hoof beginning to glow purple as he sprinted towards Sceptile. The buffalo leapt into the air, using his momentum to land a powerful Poison Jab to the worn out Sceptile's face.

Sceptile immediately collapsed under the pressure, he had pushed himself too far, and was too exhausted to continue. Darkrai floated over to the lizard, and picked him up from the ground, hovering back to the spectating area so Sceptile could rest.

Darkrai again motioned with his head for someone to step on to the battlefield, this time Toxicroak obliged, hopping on the field ecstatically. Bouffalant huffed in determination, Toxicroak giggled in response, his gullet rumbling.

"Wild Charge!" Ghetsis ordered. Bouffalant head began sparking with electricity, causing the buffalo's afro to appear even frizzier. Bouffalant charged full force, roaring in rage as he did so. Toxicroak easily leapt out of the way, giggling as he did so. This only seemed to make Bouffalant angrier, his face tensing up as his head sparked again and he charged at Toxicroak once more.

Instead of leaping out of the way like last time, Toxicroak side-stepped the attack and Low Swept Bouffalant as he ran by, flipping the buffalo on his head. Bouffalant was woozy from smashing his skull on to the hard ground, unable to register Toxicroak's fist until after it had already hit him in the snout, and by then it was too late, he was out cold.

Toxicroak gleefully hopped around, reveling in his victory. Darkrai shook his head at the behavior, a small smile on his face.

Ghetsis looked to be on the verge of exploding as he recalled Bouffalant to his Poke ball. He stiffly reached back into his cloak, pulling out another Poke ball and throwing it onto the battlefield. The ball opened up, and from it, a Sesmitoad appeared.

Upon spotting one another, Sesmitoad and Toxicroak both tilted their heads to the side in questioning motion.

"Use Rain Dance, Sesmitoad." Ghetsis said, lacking the fervor he had had before. Sesmitoad gave a deep, bassy croak as he leaned over, rumbling as he summoned several rain clouds. Water droplets began to fall from the indoor clouds. As the rain touched Sesmitoad skin he began to hop from one foot to another, as if he was preparing to sprint a marathon.

A pleasured rumbling sound came from Toxicroak's gullet as the rain made contact with his skin, the water replenishing his health thanks to his Dry Skin ability. Ghetsis' narrowed his gaze at Toxicroak.

"Use Earthquake!" Ghetsis commanded. Sesmitoad quickly obliged, letting out another bassy croak as the ground started to shake. Toxicroak nearly lost his footing from the unsteady ground but managed to right himself. However, Sesmitoad had used this distraction to launch himself at Toxicroak, who had no time to dodge.

Toxicroak screeched in pain as he was tackled to the ground, struggling under the full weight of the larger amphibian's body. In a panic, a yellow energy began forming in Toxicroak's gullet. Sesmitoad grinned at Toxicroak's feverish squirming, until the yellow energy made its way up Toxicroak's throat and a Focus Blast released itself from Toxicroak's mouth. Sesmitoad's face fell, and his eyes widened at he took the attack at point blank range, directly to his face.

A large explosion prevented the spectators from seeing the result, but Toxicroak quickly hopped out of the smoke, an expression of fear on its face.

The smoke cleared, revealing an unconscious Sesmitoad lying face down on the battlefield.

"Agghh!" Ghetsis yelled in rage. "Why? Why!?" He yelled. "Why is this happening?! I planned a contingence for every feasible scenario! Yet here you are trying to crush the fruits of my labor!" Ghetsis angrily recalled Sesmitoad back to his Poke ball.

"No matter how much you challenge me, I will not lose! I can't lose! Not after everything I've sacrificed to make my ambition reality!"

Ghetsis reached into his cloak once more, and practically tore out another Poke ball. He threw the ball onto the field, an Eelektross emerging from the ball's white light.

"Eelektross!" Ghetsis yelled sharply, causing the eel to quickly look back at its master. "Do not fail like the others did, or so help me, you will find yourself in a pain worse than any I have made you endure before!" Ghetsis threatened.

Eelektross quickly nodded, fearfully turning his attention to his opponent.

"Despicable." Said Darkrai. "It's obvious your Pokémon hate you, but I knew it was more than that. I couldn't tell why at first, but now I can see it clear as night. They don't just hate you, they fear you, and what you will do to them if they ever do anything you even remotely consider failure." Darkrai snorted. "I expected nothing less from you."

Ghetsis withdrew his anger, and wore a knowing smile as he listened to Darkrai's lecture.

"While it is true that I had to cow some of these beasts into submission, that claim doesn't hold up for all of them." Ghetsis said. "Some of them revel in the suffering of others, they enjoy the sport, and they're every bit as dastardly as you believe me to be!"

Darkrai shook his head. "Then they are just as guilty for their crimes as you are."

Toxicroak, having gotten over his panic, croaked in agreement.

"It hardly matters, because legendary or not, you won't stop me! Eelektross, use Acrobatics!" Ghetsis commanded. Eelektross quickly complied and began bouncing from foot to foot, building his momentum, then springing forwards towards Toxicroak.

Toxicroak tanked the attack head on, getting tossed head over heel, flying backwards from the force of the impact. The toad landed face first into the ground, skidding to a stop, carving a hole in the ground with face as he did so.

Toxicroak shot back up into a standing position, but instead of rushing to counterattack, he scampered off the field behind Zekrom, shaking silently in fear of the Eelektross. Zekrom looked at the toad's quivering figure and shook its head in pity.

Ghetsis watched Toxicroak flee with mild interest, after taking one attack, the Toxicroak was too scared to continue. _"Perhaps I could exploit that after I crush this miserable husk."_ Ghetsis thought to himself.

Darkrai looked to Greninja, who had been silently watching the battle up until that point. "Greninja, would you care to finish this one up?" Darkrai asked.

"Gre-," Muttered Greninja in confirmation. He jumped from his spectating position, onto the battlefield, facing the electric eel.

"Eelektross, use Wild Charge!" Ghetsis demanded. Eelektross became covered in a shroud of electricity, his entire body sparking with energy, and he darted forward at Greninja. The ninja side stepped out of the path of the Wild charge, Eelektross passing him and veering back around to try and make another pass.

Greninja's arms became enveloped in a dark misty cloud of energy. He braced himself as Eelektross raced towards him, and blocked his opponent's attack with his Night Slash, staggering back a few steps as he did so, but minimizing damage in the process.

Greninja quickly retaliated, pushing back at Eelektross and breaking the eel's guard. Greninja dashed at the stunned Eelektross with a Power-Up Punch, connecting solidly with the eel's head.

Eelektross reared its head back in pain, screeching and bringing its fins to its head, trying to covet the stinging pain. He screeched again, this time in rage, and came at Greninja with another Wild Charge. The ninja fell back, melting into his shadow, effectively dodging the attack with a Shadow sneak.

Eelektross watched the shadow quickly dart around the battlefield, trying to follow its movements, until the shadow broke off into two. The shadows began dividing even more, until they completely encircled Eelektross.

Ghetsis was familiar with Double Team strategies, he had seen this trick before, but not applied with Shadow Sneak so effectively.

"Only one of the shadows holds the real Greninja, Eelektross! Attack them as they come up!" Ghetsis warned.

Eelektross looked around at the shadows as they crawled closer to him. Then suddenly, a Greninja leapt out of each shadow at the same time, all shooting Water Shurikens at him before he even had time to react.

Of course, none of the Shurikens did any damage, for they were just mirages from the Double Team. When Eelektross found his body wasn't stinging in pain, he looked up, only to find a lone Greninja ready to fire a Hydro Pump right above him.

Greninja released the Hydro Pump without hesitation, drowning his opponent in water completely.

Eelektross' trashing could be seen from under the torrent of water that enveloped the eel entirely, and when it stopped, his unconscious body was revealed lying on the floor.

Ghetsis didn't say a word, he knew how hopeless the rest of this fight would be, but he would be dead before he let go of his dream. Ghetsis recalled Eelektross to its Poke ball, looking at the ball with clear disdain before stuffing it back inside his cloak.

Ghetsis pulled out one last Poke ball from the depths of his cloak, staring at the ball before bringing the Poke ball to full size and casually tossing it onto the field.

The white emergence light came from the Poke ball like usual, revealing a monstrous beast. From the light rose Ghetsis' Hydreigon, an anomaly of Mother Nature, who at this stage in its life, should have still been a Zweilous. The massive three headed dragon looked back at its master with scorn glowing in its eyes.

Ghetsis returned the look without hesitation, with an expression that said _"Do what I say or you will regret your decision."_ The Hydreigon turned its head back around and huffed, choosing to follow orders for the time being.

Greninja's fist became coated in a light-blue icy sheen, and he charged towards Hydreigon to try and land the super effective Ice Punch. Greninja leapt into the air as he drew near, using the momentum to propel himself forward. As he came into the vicinity of Hydreigon, the dragon shot a large ball of yellow energy into Greninja, sending the frog flying backwards into the dirt.

"The same trick used by your Toxicroak, except this time is executed by design instead of panic!" Ghetsis gloated.

Hydreigon grunted, shooting another glare full of malice at his master. Ghetsis' smile fell at this, he grew sick of the dragon's constant disobedience, but he would deal with that soon enough.

Darkrai floated over to the unconscious form of Greninja, gently lifting his companion and placing him next to the still unconscious Sceptile, so that he could rest.

Darkrai turned to look at Lucario. "You up for one more round?" He asked. Lucario nodded and walked onto to the battlefield, and began studying his opponent. Three heads, many ways to use them, he would have to be careful around those, assuming he was able to get in close.

"Use Surf!" Commanded Ghetsis. A whirlpool of water began forming around Hydreigon, who roared with the effort. Hydreigon motioned with his whole body, and the whirlpool became a single wave that came crashing down on the entire battlefield, leaving Lucario with no time or room to dodge.

Lucario became swept in the undercurrent of the wave, and landed tumbling, coughing for air. He looked up at the dragon with determination in his eyes, bringing his paws together and forming a large Aura Sphere in between them. He growled with the effort and shot the gargantuan Aura Sphere at his opponent who, like Lucario earlier, had no hope of dodging, tanking the attack. The contact caused dust to billow up, leaving the results unknown.

Hydreigon came racing out of the cloud at Lucario. Using the smaller heads on its arms, it latched onto Lucario's arms locking them to his sides, leaving him defenseless to anything Hydreigon would throw at him.

Fire started forming at all three of Hydreigon's mouths, causing Lucario to howl in pain as the fire burned into his arms from the heads holding him in place. The Fire Blast reached its apex of power, and Hydreigon reared his head back, ready to sear the skin off his prey, but found himself flying backwards and crashing into the ground before he got a chance.

Darkrai shook his hand in pain, surprised out how hard Hydreigon's skull was, but quickly turned his attention to Lucario.

"That's too far, Zoroark's flames you can handle, but fire torture? None of that!" Darkrai said as he helped Lucario to his feet. "Take a break Lucario, I'll handle the rest." Lucario was about to protest, but was cut off by Darkrai's hand.

"I would let you finish it, but this is personal now."

Lucario sighed, then nodded in understanding and went to stand by the others.

Hydreigon flew back up to his levitating position, and growled dangerously at Darkrai.

"Hydreigon, use Dragon Pulse!" Shouted Ghetsis. A purple ball of energy began to form at Hydreigon's center head, shooting at Darkrai in a zig-zag pattern, the beam of energy, at its climax, resembling a dragon. Darkrai quickly sunk into the floor too dodge, much like Greninja had done with his Shadow Sneak. Unlike Greninja, Darkrai's shadows conformed to the ones around him, rendering him practically invisible to Hydreigon.

The dragon's darted his three pairs of eyes around the battlefield trying to track down any slight inconsistencies in the ground, spotting one as Darkrai swiftly emerged from the shadows, and landed a Focus Punch to Hydreigon's center head.

The dragon clenched its eyes tight in pain, opening them back up to meet Darkrai charging another attack, this one a black ball of energy, giving off an ominous purple glow. Hydreigon's eyes widened as he recognized the attack, and then calmly shut them as the effects of the Dark Void set in.

Darkrai watched as Hydreigon gently floated down to the floor to nap, and then as the dragon squirmed and shook from the nightmares that followed. Darkrai floated closer to Hydreigon's sleeping form and he hovered his hand over the dragon.

Hydreigon quivered even more as his sleep as Darkrai fed off of his dreams, relishing in the sweet taste of another being's nightmares. Darkrai cut off of his attack, satisfied with the results, and floated off towards Ghetsis, leaving the sleeping dragon behind.

Ghetsis took a step back in fear, prepared to run, even though he knew it wouldn't do him any good. Darkrai slowly inched towards Ghetsis, feeling the man's anxiety grow with every inch he got closer, stopping until he was only a foot from Ghetsis.

Darkrai brought up his arm, Ghetsis flinching back at the motion. Darkrai fingers crackled with a small amount of purple energy.

"Sleep." Darkrai whispered, and Ghetsis obeyed, falling to the ground from the effects of the Dark Void. Ghetsis' began sweating profusely from his nightmares, his breathing growing heavy, and occasional panicked whisper coming from his lips.

Darkrai roughly picked up his body, and slung him over his shoulder. He began to travel back to his side of the field, but stopped when he saw the Hydreigon still squirming from his nightmare, whimpering occasionally. Darkrai floated down to the dragon, and tapped him with a small amount of the purple energy, waking Hydreigon up.

Hydreigon shot up into a battle stance, ready to defend himself if need be. Darkrai held his hands up in a placating manner.

"Relax, the battle's over and Ghetsis lost, there's no need to keep fighting." Darkrai said. Hydreigon noticed that Darkrai had Ghetsis draped over one shoulder in a fireman's carry. He snorted at his master's unconscious form.

Hydreigon relaxed slightly, and Darkrai lowered his hands slowly.

"Good, to know were no longer enemies." Darkrai said. "The rest of your friends need your leadership." Darkrai reached into Ghetsis' cloak, pulling out the rest of the man's team. "They won't be seeing Ghetsis again, and they'll need someone to look too. That responsibility falls to you my friend." Darkrai handed the Poke balls to Hydreigon, who awkwardly scooped them into his arms.

Hydreigon stared down at the capture devices in his hands, lost in thought.

Darkrai began floating back over towards the other side of the battlefield, and landed in front of N, unceremoniously dropping Ghetsis onto the floor.

"I've given Hydreigon the responsibility of looking after Ghetsis' Pokémon, but they'll likely need more guidance than that." He gestured towards N. "You are as far as I know, the only person they have to turn to. Will you let them?"

N already knew what his answer would be. He raised his head to meet Darkrai's gaze, ready to answer, but was cut off by the sounds of footsteps entering into the room.

Darkrai and N turned to look at the noise, just in time to see Alder and Cheren run into the room.

. . . . . . . . .

Cheren was expecting the worst, Alder had said that Hilbert had immediately given chase to N into this labyrinth of a castle. Wasting no time, they followed the two heroes into the building.

After about an hour of backtracking and asking surprisingly willing grunts for directions, they arrived at the throne room the grunts had said 'N's clash of philosophy.' would take place.

They frantically rushed into the throne room, to be greeted with an unexpected sight. The two legendary dragons were standing off to the side, as well a sizable chunk of Hilbert's team. Hilbert's Sceptile and a Greninja he didn't recognize were lying down, injured, and being tended to by Hilbert's Lucario.

To top off the bizarre scene, was N, and a… he wasn't sure what, staring at him and Alder. The most worrying thing to Cheren, was the lack of Hilbert in the room.

Alder seemed to have better luck identifying the scrawling black cloud thing, as his skin had paled slightly upon seeing the creature.

"A Darkrai?!" Alder said in half shock, half confusion. Said Darkrai looked at Cheren, studying him, then floated closer.

Cheren's first instinct was to step back out of fear, but the Darkrai put his hands up in a pacifying gesture, trying to get Cheren to relax. While Cheren didn't bolt like he originally wanted too, he remained on edge.

Then the Darkrai began changing form. The plumes of smoke-like fur that drifted off of it receded into its body, and its body began taking on a more human appearance, until he took the shape of… Hilbert.

"Hi, Cheren." Said the Hilbert lookalike, sounding almost nervous. Cheren took another step back, all the fear from before returning to him at full force.

N could see the look of apprehension on Cheren's face, and decided to step in. "Perhaps I should explain, Darkrai." N suggested, laying a hand on Darkrai's (Hilbert's?) shoulder.

The Hilbert lookalike nodded, though he still looked a bit anxious at Cheren's initial reaction.

"Where's Hilbert?" Cheren asked, some venom creeping into his voice. N gestured towards Darkrai. "This is him, Cheren."

And then, the pieces clicked together in Cheren's head, his posture falling at the revelation.

"You mean this entire time?" He looked at Darkrai with pleading eyes. He didn't meet Cheren's gaze, but gave a subtle nod.

"How long have you known?" Cheren asked, refocusing his attention on N.

"I found out in the middle of our battle, he finished the fight himself."

Cheren turned to Darkrai once more. "Why?"

Darkrai let out a long sigh, then shifted back to his original form. "A lot of things. But mainly… curiosity. Please, let me explain." Darkrai sounded almost pleading. Cheren nodded, giving him permission.

Darkrai's thanks showed in his eyes.

"Me, and all the Pokémon I travel with hated humans. Some of us were abused, others had things… taken from us." Darkrai shuddered as he spoke. "But we were all like-minded. That is, until we met a tamed Pokémon who had been separated from its trainer. We thought it was being held captive, so we tried to convince him to stay with us." Darkrai smiled at the memory. "But it immediately went running back to its trainer, we didn't understand why, we thought all humans were the same, evil and abusive. So we followed him to his trainer, without his knowledge of course, and that was when we first saw how tamed Pokémon see humans."

"That wasn't enough to make us give up our hate completely, but we began questioning it. We wanted, no _needed,_ to find if our contempt was misplaced."

"So we set out on a journey, me under the guise of trainer as our cover, to find out what type of world we really lived in."

"On our journey we met many people and Pokémon, we saw the many ways man interacted with Pokémon," Darkrai scowled. "The entire spectrum."

The dream eater's face lightened up back into a small smile. "But for every poacher or hunter, there were hundreds, if not thousands of people who saw Pokémon as more than just a tool or a prize to be collected." Darkrai's expression grew solemn. "Our experiences were eye opening."

"Among the people we met, was a boy named N." N tensed up at the mention of his name. "He claimed to want to liberate Pokémon from the abusive grasp of humans. We encountered him many times throughout our travels in Unova and we learned about his upbringing, how he had grown up around Pokémon that were abused by humans like we were."

"The one key thing that was different about him though, was that he planned to separate Pokémon and people entirely." Darkrai became solemn once more. "He had a plan for it all, become the chosen hero of one of the legendary dragons, become the reigning champion of the Pokémon league, and use his position of influence to isolate man and Pokémon from each other completely."

"But after everything I and my friends had seen, we couldn't sit idly by, and it was clear you didn't want us to N."

"The one thing I didn't expect though, was being Zekrom's chosen hero against N." Darkrai looked over at Zekrom. "Funny."

It took Cheren a few moments to process the information. He straightened his glasses and regained his composure. He was about to reply before Alder interjected.

"As interested as I am in this whole scenario." He looked towards Ghetsis. "We should deal with him, Cheren come with me."

"Right!" Cheren wasn't happy about being cut off, but realized he should probably at least let N and Darkrai finish the talk they had interrupted.

Alder picked up Ghetsis in a fire-man's carry, and left the room. Cheren, not far behind, looked back one last time at Darkrai before turning to exit the throne room as well.

N met Darkrai's gaze once more. "Will you walk with me for a minute?" N asked.

Darkrai nodde, and the pair began walking down the path to N's destroyed throne.

"N, like I was asking before, will you take care of Hydreigon and his bunch?" Darkrai said, gesturing over to the Hydreigon whose middle head was still staring down.

"Absolutely." N said. Hydreigon finally looked up at N and clumsily tossed his own Poke ball to N. N caught it and returned Hydreigon to the ball, attaching the device to his belt, then heading over to pick up the other ones Hydreigon had dropped.

N returned to the path and continued walking with Darkrai. "So," Darkrai tilted his head towards N. "What will you do now?"

N stopped walking and stayed silent for a moment.

"I don't know." He answered honestly. "I think… I think I need some time to think, away from others…" N walked to the destroyed window behind his throne, and stared out of it, lost in thought.

"Thank you, Darkrai." He said.

"For what?"

"For helping me see beyond myself." N turned around and motioned at Reshiram, who flew out the window.

"Until next time." N fell back, falling through the broken window.

Darkrai stared at the space N had just occupied for a moment. Five Poke balls seemed to appear out of thin air, and he activated them all at once, recalling his companions to their capsules.

"Until next time." Darkrai said, fading into the shadows.

. . . . . . . . .

Author's Note: Happy 20th Pokémon Anniversary everyone! I would do a whole spiel on how much Pokémon means to me and all that and how it has shaped me into the person I have become today and continues to do so. I would talk about how the first real loss I felt was in a PMD game. I would talk about how much Pokémon has given me. I would talk about how I've connected with people on the internet and in real life through Pokémon, and made some of my best friends through the franchise. And I would talk about how my Pokémon in game were my first real friends, and kept me company when I had no one else, but I don't think I need to, because that's an experience we, the Pokémon community all share, between each other.

Regardless I wanted to get this last chapter of the two-shot out before the actual anniversary was out, so I grinded five thousand words in a week.

Until next time.


End file.
